According to the preacher’s intensity and purity of realization, their preaching of hari-katha may be of many types. The mahā-bhagavata, madhyama-bhagavata, kaniṣṭha-bhagavata may talk about Hari, but there is a great difference in the deepness of their conception and commitment.
The most worshipable paramartha-sastra acclaims adhimasa as the most outstanding month for transcendental activities. Since life in this world is temporary, it is not proper to spend any part of one’s life meaninglessly. It is imperative for the jiva to remain continuously engaged in hari-bhajana at every moment. Thus, the adhimasa, which comes every third year, may also become useful for hari-bhajana. This is indeed the deep meaning of paramartha-sastras. Even though karmis perceive this month to be devoid of all auspicious activities, for the deliverance of all the jivas, paramartha sastra, on the other hand, has ascertained that period as the most conducive for hari-bhajana. Paramartha sastra says, “He jiva! During this adhimasa why should you remain lazy in hari-bhajana? Srimad Golokanatha Himself has ascertained that this month is the best of all. It is superior even to the greatly pious months of Karttika, Magha and Vaisakha. In this month, you should perform arcana of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna with special rules, or moods, for bhajana. You will thereby attain all types of perfection.”
Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya told us that we should first acquire self-determination, without which we will mistake the mind for the soul. Mind is quite different from soul. The mind conducts all the activities of the physical plane. It receives impressions from Nature through the medium of the senses and through the functions of our body, that is, through the mind’s interfacing with external objects, which are made of matter.
Your task is to clearly and precisely comprehend what the substance is, and then briefly describe this substance so the reader for all time has a guideline to help him understand what the occurrence of these lila-s actually means, so that he immediately and instinctively rejects the nonsense that translators and poets offer him in the form of ”Indian Love Poetry” and similar attempts to drag the Divine through the dirt or glorify the dirt of the world
His loving devotion to Sri Krishna, his dedication to Sri Gaura-Nityananda’s marvellous Pastimes, His self-manifest faith in the devotional siddhanta of the best of the Rupanugas—Srila Bhakti Vinod and Srila Saraswati Thakur, His joy in the sadhu’s association, his mad endeavours to serve Sri Guru, his unconquerable conviction to serve, his lightning bolt-like firmness towards the wicked, his flower-like gentleness towards the good-natured, his sincere behaviour, his impeccable moral life, his melted-hearted compassion for the unfortunate, his natural courage, his eloquence in the assemblies of sadhus—this great soul’s unlimited qualities, having assembled within his supramundane character, are brightening and blessing this world, the field of his campaign.
by Srila Bhakti Kumuda Santa Gosvami Maharaja Categories of Jivas We observe many types of jivas around us. A jiva is a conscious being: jivati iti jivah that which has life is a jiva. They have been divided into five categories, namely, those whose consciousness is...
By Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja The guru of the universe, Prajāpati Brahmā, once said: “The ātma, or soul, is beyond piety and impiety, old age and death, lamentation, hunger and thirst, and acceptance and rejection. Only he who...
In His instructions to Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī (sanātana-śikṣā), Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said, “The Veda discusses sambandha (the relationship between the living entity and the Supreme Entity), abhidheya (the means for attaining the object of pursuit) and prayojana (the very object of pursuit). Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose service is to be attained, is the person with whom we are to have sambandha.
Srila Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Gosvami Maharaja A Festival of Bliss, not Sorrow Separation is a source of great pain for every living entity, so why, yearly, do we make elaborate arrangements in honour of the departure of a great Vaiṣṇava, simply to experience agony?...
Mysticism appears when man approaches the Absolute from his angle; this can still be understood in some way, still be sensed intuitively. Shastram means that which governs us, restrains, corrects, chastises us. It is not the way you think, says the Shastram. – What you yourself like, feel, love and think: the Absolute etc. must be like this or that – let go of it, altogether. Listen to what I, the Shastram, say, and you must accept it – if you have shraddha, at all – and hear it over and over again, however unpleasant, uncomfortable and totally contrary to your expectation it may be.
A person who renders service in a completely independent mood without accepting any guidance does not render true service to the Vaiṣṇavas or Bhagavān; rather, he endeavors only to gratify his own senses. Such a person is known as svecchācāri, or a person who acts only according to his own desires. Before beginning any service, one must understand the moods and desires of the sevya (object of service). It is only after gaining such an understanding that one’s service can truly please the sevya and even be called sevā.
On one Ekadasi most devotees remained at the Matha to observe fasting, but Sripada Asrama Maharaja took anukalpa-prasada and went out to preach. Srila Sarasvati Thakura commented, “He has understood the principle of the Gaudiya Matha.
The questions that are frequently asked are as these:—‘Why should it be at all necessary to submit to any particular person or to subscribe to any particular ceremony for the purpose of realising the Absolute Who by His Nature is unconditioned? Why should Krishna require our formal declaration of submission to Himself? Would it not be more generous and logical to permit us to live a life of freedom in accordance with the principles of our perverted nature which is also His creation? Admitting that it is our duty to serve Krishna, why should we have to be introduced to Him by a third party? Why is it impossible for one to serve Sri Krishna directly?
The good preceptor although he appears to belong to this world is not really of this world. No one who belongs to this world can deliver us from worldliness. The good preceptor is a denizen of the spiritual world who has been enabled by the will of God to appear in this world in order to enable us to realise the spiritual existence.